Question reference: S6W-24419
- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 12 January 2024
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the system of reporting by the salmon farming industry of issues relating to fish health, including (a) sea lice numbers, (b) gill health, (c) fish mortality and (d) fish wellbeing, is compulsory or voluntary.
Answer
The Fish Farming Businesses (Reporting) (Scotland) Order 2020 places a legal requirement for aquaculture production businesses to report average sea lice numbers per fish per week to Scottish Ministers.
The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place a legal obligation for increased mortality to be reported to Scottish Ministers or a veterinarian. This applies to unexplained mortality, and there is a voluntary agreement in place with aquaculture production businesses for any instances of mortality above specified thresholds to be reported to Scottish Ministers as part of wider aquatic animal health surveillance. This agreement is a requirement of the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture.
Gill health is a term used to describe a category of conditions which have a detrimental impact on fish gills and is not a single disease. The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place an obligation for the presence or suspected presence of listed diseases, some of which affect gill health, to notify to Scottish Ministers.
There is no obligation to report fish wellbeing which has no specific definition. The Fish Health Inspectorate will raise any concerns regarding fish welfare with the Animal and Plant Health Agency which is responsible for investigating potential breaches in welfare law.